Tensions have escalated between the two nuclear powers following Tuesday’s attack on tourists by separatists in Indian-administered Kashmir.
member of India’s security forces stands guard on the banks of Dal Lake in Indian-administered Kashmir after the Pahalgam attack.
Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan threatened to suspend its participation in all bilateral agreements with India, including the 1972 Simla Agreement, on Thursday in a retaliatory move after India said it would suspend its own participation in the Indus Water Treaty and close the land border the day before.
The Simla Agreement was a peace accord signed by the two countries a few months after Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan.
In a communique issued following a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), Pakistan’s top civil-military decision-making body, Pakistan has warned India that any disruption of its water supply would be considered “an act of war”, adding that it was prepared to respond, “with full force across the complete spectrum of national power”.
The NSC meeting, which took place on Thursday in Islamabad, was led by Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, alongside other government officials and chiefs of its military forces.The NSC statement mirrored actions announced by India on Wednesday, and included the closure of the Wagah Border Post with “immediate effect”, the suspension and cancellation of SAARC visas for Indian nationals (excluding Sikh pilgrims), the designation of Indian defence advisors as personae non grata in Pakistan, a reduction in the staff of the Indian High Commission, the closure of Pakistani airspace to Indian airlines, and the suspension of all trade with India.
The Himalayan territory of Kashmir has been a flashpoint between the two countries since they gained independence from British rule in 1947, with each country controlling parts of Kashmir but claiming it in full. Since independence, the nuclear-armed neighbours have fought four wars, three of them over Kashmir.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who also serves as deputy prime minister, called the Indian steps “immature and hasty” in a television interview on Wednesday night, .